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“Read The Signs”
Hitchhiking was the primary means of travel for so many young people during the 1960’s. However, distrust between Americans in the following decade rose as the sheer volume of missing persons reports and the heightened awareness of serial killers made the television news on a nightly basis.
For one such young man, hanging a thumb out on the side of a Mississippi highway during a rainstorm was done out of pure desperation. When the black four-door sedan slowed down to offer a ride on that fateful night, the hitchhiker thanked the angels above for his good fortune. He would soon discover the driver was no angel at all, but something much, much darker.
“The Lurker In The Pit”
The Montegue family has always maintained a healthy distance from one another in the years since David’s aunt passed due to a mysterious sickness. Things became more peculiar when David found out in a letter to his mother that his wealthy uncle had remarried. Then all contact between Uncle Montegue and the family ceased to exist.
Six years later David, Edward, and Marian received summons from their uncle’s attorney. The old man was dying and he wished to settle his estate before he passed. But where had their uncle gone? All that awaited the three beneficiaries when they arrived at the Montegue house was their uncle’s old decrepit butler named Morpheus.
“If Uncle won’t greet his family as they arrive, then show us the money!” each emplied in turn as they arrived.
Only David was privy to the story of his uncle’s new wife and her sinister doings behind closed doors. Uncle Montegue banished the woman from his estate last spring when he caught her practicing the occult within the walls of the manor. Was she to blame for the uncle’s declining health? What did Edward see when he arrived earlier that day?
“Come to think of it,” David asked out loud. “Where is Edward now?”
“Creepy Mail”
The official letters to the editor section of the comic book. In this issue no letters are shared but Charlton Comics gives us the lowdown on what is to be expected in upcoming issues. The reader is also given the name of Charlton Comics newest horror host. Say hello the Dee Munn.
“Indian Summer”
There was evil in the air that summer of 1890. It permeated the southern landscape of the Great Lakes, like an August rainstorm ready to unleash a deluge upon a droughted field. Shoka, a local Indian who had survived harsh times during the war with the whites, sat near the shoreline smoking tobacco and remembering his youth. Then a young boy, not much older than ten, aroused his attention with a great commotion.
“Shoka! Shoka!” the boy yelled as he raced down the riverbank. “Tell me why the leaves change in the fall.”
The wise Shoka began to tell the boy of the Great Spirits who inhabit all of nature and the surrounding lands. The Sun Spirits come to turn the leaves yellow. Then the Warrior Spirits arrive to turn the leaves red in celebration of their victories. Then the Earth Spirits arrive to turn the leaves to brown in a never ending cycle of rebirth.
The boy asked which is the most dangerous of the three. The Warrior Spirits can be called upon to take revenge for those in need.
Before Shoka could finish his story, the boy’s father arrived armed with a Winchester rifle. The man’s face showed nothing but hatred for the Indian as he sprinted forward to place himself between his son and the one he thought a pure savage. What was next for poor old Shoka? All he wanted was to educate the boy about spirits that surrounded them that day.
“The Well”
Brother Amos had always claimed a voice spoke to him from inside that old farm well. No one in town believed the aging wheat farmer. Not even his brother Iraah. There was no questioning the strange success of Amos, however, or the wealth he acquired from the last two planting seasons.
While the lands surrounding Amos’ fields withered with blight, the mysterious “voice from the well” had help Iraah’s brother yield a bountiful harvest. Then Amos had withered away from some strange sickness, leaving Iraah in charge of his lands and his brother’s funeral. It wouldn’t be long before Iraah’s fields dried and the crops began to wither.
Would Iraah take his brother’s advice and visit that old abandoned well? Why is the Widow Pierce suddenly interested in the old broken down farmer with a withering field? How far would Iraah go to keep his new fortune flowing? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
Charlton Comics continued to ride out the horror comic book craze with their 1975 release of “Creepy Things”. This six issue series was a very short run, but it gave various artists a platform to show off their skills. Some, like Tom Sutton, would continue on in the industry for years to come.
Per the formula of most comic book publishers of that time, Creepy Things is an anthology book with various unconnected storylines designed to scare and repulse its readers. Sadly, there is no host to provide us with fun quips or moral lessons to ponder, however it’s revealed on the editorial page that one has been contracted and will join the fun in the near future. Dee Munn is his name. Don’t wear it out!
For those fans out there who are into retro 1960’s horror movies such as Hammer Film’s “The Satanic Rites Of Dracula” (1971), you should enjoy this series. If you don’t like gothic horror, mindless monster attacks, or slow boil murder stories, this may not be the vintage comic book series for you. Overall, I give the first issue if Creepy Things a solid three out of five stars. Tom Sutton, Enrique Nieto, and Dick Piscopo run the gambit of creativity as their art is very distinct from each other. The cover alone is worth the purchase. Just don’t slab them! I like my comics free-range.
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